God owns the definition of marriage and its purpose. It belongs to Him. You might just as well try to rename a circle a square as to rename marriage.

For 6,000 years, all civilized nations have recognized the biblical concept of real marriage. No president, no state, no nation, no Congress, no government, and no dictator has the legal right to change the definition of marriage.

In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 says: "Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband." Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6: "In the beginning, God created them male and female and said: ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.'"

The purpose of marriage, biblically speaking, is threefold. First, the man was incomplete and alone, so the woman completed him.

Second, they were to enjoy the conjugal rights of sexual intimacy. It is biologically and psychologically impossible to misunderstand the plumbing of a man and a woman. Sexual pleasure and fulfillment in the confines of marriage are devoid of lust and guilt.

Third, they were to produce children. God designed the nuclear family for the wholeness and effectiveness of society.

When children are produced as a result of sexual intimacy, it is vitally important for them to see the proper role of a father and a mother. It is impossible for a man to be a mother and for a woman to be a father, biologically and sociologically.

The battle over traditional marriage is a battle for the soul of America. It has nothing to do with civil rights, equal rights, or social justice. It is about defiance of God's definition of marriage, which has served humankind for thousands of years.

The radical homosexual agenda in America wants to rewrite the history of the human family and thus redefine marriage. The American church and the Judeo-Christian community should hear the call to arms to preserve the institution of traditional marriage.

Unfortunately, in America today we don't have the strong pulpits that once confronted sin through the teaching of God's word. There is too much "show" and not enough "know" in our houses of worship.

If the homosexual community wants civil unions and domestic partnerships, let it define such relationships without stealing God's original definition of marriage.

I hope this is a wake-up call for America to return to the God of our forefathers and repent at His altar. Perhaps He will save us.

The Rev. Tony Scott is pastor of the Church on Strayer in Monclova Township.